Introduction to TV Drama: Blog Tasks :)

Read Factsheet #164 on Television Serial Drama and answer the following questions to show your comprehensive knowledge of the television drama genre:

1) What is serial television drama? Write your own definition.

A serial television drama is a very popular genre of TV that has a continuous plot that unfolds in episode by episode with multi-strand narratives and stereotypical characters that take place in recognisable settings 

2) List five of the TV dramas discussed in the history of the genre on page 1 of the factsheet. How has the genre evolved over time?

• Danger Man 
• The Sweeney 
• Minder 
• The A-Team 
• Hill Street Blues 

Until the 1980s, most US television dramas followed a set narrative structure where there is a narrative resolution by the end of the episode- whether it's a cop show or an action caper, the template is the same and there is no reference to the previous episode as the show carries on. However, Hill Street Blues changed the shape of TV drama series and effectively transformed it into a serial as it showed their domestic lives as well as their professional lives and their crime stories ran over several episodes and a satisfactory resolution was not always given. From that point onward, more TV dramas adopted this serialised form of storytelling

3) List the sub-genres of TV drama featured in the factsheet. Come up with your own example of an existing TV dramas to fit each category.

• Police Procedural (crime): The Fall 
• Medical: The Good Doctor 
• Period (costume): The Crown 
• Science-fiction/fantasy: The Walking Dead 
• Family: This Is Us  
• Teen: Pretty Little Liars 

4) Why is setting so important for TV drama?

Setting is so important for TV dramas because their location reflects the sub-genre of the drama- serial dramas tend to focus on a story of the week which are generally based around a location instead of one or two main characters. This allows the drama to develop over a long period of time and the absence of making the show revolve around a main character allows new characters to join the show to prevent it from getting boring 

5) How do TV dramas typically use character? What audience pleasures can be linked to character in TV drama? (Hint: Uses & Gratifications theory!)

Serial dramas often employ archetypal characters as well as using characters to reflect modern audiences. For example, there is now a greater presence of strong females as well as black and ethnic minority characters. There is also an increase in the amount of gay, lesbian, and transsexual characters that are being represented in television serials. Characters in serial dramas go on journeys that allow them to change and develop (but not too much so that their function in the narrative isn't affected) but these character journeys are called 'arcs' and often span over episodes or seasons 

6) What is a multi-strand narrative? Give an example of a TV drama that features a multi-strand narrative.

A multi-strand narrative is when there are many narratives happening at the same time instead of one long storyline centred around one character and Grey's Anatomy is an example of a show with a multi-strand narrative because each character has a storyline that develops instead of one storyline surrounding the main character 

7) What is a cold opening?

A narrative technique where the show jumps straight into the story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits 

8) How can Todorov's theory of equilibrium be applied to TV drama serials?

Stories typically follow Todorov’s narrative stages though often without the return to equilibrium at the end of each episode- most police procedurals tend to provide narrative resolution to fulfil the audience’s curiosity for answers 

9) What is the typical form for TV dramas and how are the programmes typically distributed to an audience?

The length of the season and episodes vary according to the institution that produces and distributes the programme- they are reliant on funding from advertisements and this can impact the text in a number of ways. Excessive swearing and violence in TV dramas is rare because more conservative content attracts advertisers due to their adherence to mainstream ideologies 

10) How have subscription channels (such as HBO) and streaming services (such as Netflix and Amazon Prime) changed the form and content of TV dramas?

Drama serials presented on subscription channels are not governed by the same considerations so their content allows for more adult and challenging content- shows on subscription channels tend to share content that many potential advertisers would not want to associate their products with. Cable channels and services often produce shorter runs and do not stick to rigid running times 

11) Choose a TV drama and do your own analysis of it using the SETTING / CHARACTERS / NARRATIVE / FORM headings as featured on page 3 of the factsheet.

• Setting: This show takes place in a modern day hospital that has developed over the seasons 
• Characters: There is a diverse cast of doctors or patients in this show where many characters die and there are many new characters introduced (especially recently, they have added minorities and gay characters) but the main character is seen as an independent woman and there are also lots of other strong and independent women on the show 
• Narrative: This show makes use of a multi-strand narrative as each character has a storyline that develops throughout the show- they also use a cold opening by going straight into the story without the use of a title sequence or commercial break 
• Form: Each episode is around 42 minutes and there are 22 episodes in each season on average and there are 18 seasons (with more to come). They are shown by the network ABC so this means that there is little bad language so it seems attractive to the network to air but it is also shown on Disney+ in the UK and Netflix in the US 

12) How might the TV drama genre evolve in future?

TV drama fills the void between high and low budget films- Hollywood concentrates on superheroes, special effect and other action films so many actors are made to play morally ambiguous characters with complex and challenging narratives and this trend is likely to continue